John Spillane announces folk opera album featuring Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, Niamh Farrell and more

John Spillane has unveiled his latest artistic venture - an ambitious folk opera concept album honouring the Lough of Cork. Fíoruisce - Legend of the Lough will hit shelves and streaming platforms on Friday 13th September 2024.

The concept album, to be released on double CD and digital, features John alongside a stellar cast of collaborators: Ríoghnach Connolly, Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, Niamh Farrell, Nell Ní Chróinín, and more.

Audiences are invited to experience the world of Fíoruisce at the launch of the site-responsive art exhibition, created by artist Megan Clancy, at The Lough in Cork City on Sunday 15th September. After the event, a listening party will take place at MTU Cork School of Music. Admission is free, however bookings are required via Eventbrite.

Album artwork and illustration by Megan Clancy Creative

Composed by Cork artist John Spillane, Fíoruisce - The Legend of the Lough is a three-act Gaelic folk opera which features macaronic and bilingual script. The work is an imagined re-Gaelicisation of the Victorian Cork fairytale Fior-usga, collected by Irish antiquary Thomas Crofton Croker and published in hs book Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland in 1828.

The narrative is a surreal tale culminating in a drowned kingdom which, as lore tells us, becomes The Lough in Cork City as we know it today. Some say you can see the tops of the underworld towers on a clear day and hear the music of their big party on Midsummer’s night.

Helmed at Wavefield Recording Studios in Clonakilty, the album features the voices from Ireland’s folk and sean nós scenes, including Ríoghnach Connolly, Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, Niamh Farrell, Nell Ní Chróinín, John Spillane himself of course, and more.

Described by Spillane as his “magnum opus,” this project draws on his lifelong dedication to storytelling, the Irish language and music. Using these elements, the Cork native crafts an album that weaves common threads of Irish mythos, war depictions, curses, lullabies, laments, shapeshifting tricksters, love, a great fleadh and the eventual climax - the drowning of a kingdom.

“I’m so thrilled to present this album in honour of the Lough of Cork. The Lough is a hidden gem and a natural place of healing,” John says. “Fíoruisce means springwater. This Gaelic folk opera has been a labour of love over many years

“My epic saga is a re-Gaelicized folk-opera version of that story. I’m thrilled with the singers on this record. I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed performing it.”

You can pre-order the forthcoming folk opera Fíoruisce - The Legend of the Lough here.